Aging boiler forces Tomah School Board to act

The Tomah Area School District showed off brighter, roomier tech-ed shops Monday, then turned to a less visible and more urgent high school project.

The School Board voted 4-1 Sept. 14 to move ahead with a partial replacement of the high school's 60-year-old boiler after an inspection found damage that has left it unusable. The motion authorizes installing one new boiler at a cost of up to $428,000, with an anticipated $48,000 rebate.

It also allows district administrators to authorize about $33,000 in repairs to the old boiler if delays or winter conditions make the work necessary. Board member Teresa Devine voted against, and two board members were absent.

Tour

Before the boiler discussion, board members toured three career and technical education areas renovated over the summer. The auto, woods, and metals shops received new paint, brighter lighting, and improved floors. Staff moved equipment and reworked rooms to give students more usable space.

In the auto shop, staff replaced fluorescent fixtures with high-bay LED lighting. The lighter walls, ceiling, and refinished floor changed the feel of a room staff had described as dark. Cleanup should be easier, too.

The room is used nearly every hour. Some auto courses provide Western Technical College credit, while car care, small engines, and Women in Technology sections are full or near capacity.

The woods area underwent a larger change. Walls were removed between the former classroom, hallway, and storage space, opening a dedicated teaching area and freeing more of the shop for projects. A drying wall was added so finished work can be hung rather than spread across the room.

Introductory woods classes have about 18 to 20 students. Building trades students also complete community and district projects.

The metals shop received paint, lighting improvements, and polished concrete flooring. The district added new CNC mills, upgraded welding booths, and rearranged the room. More than 50 students are enrolled in three introductory sections.

The tour then moved into the boiler room.

Big Bertha

The district's largest boiler dates to the high school's original 1965 construction. Staff calls it "Big Bertha." It is rated at 10 million BTUs. Two smaller boilers installed in 2011 provide about 4 million BTUs of combined capacity.

That arrangement works in mild weather. Once temperatures fall to roughly 25 to 30 degrees, however, the two smaller boilers are stretched, and the building relies on the larger unit.

The problem was discovered during annual maintenance. When technicians opened the unit, they found damaged refractory material and broken insulation inside its door. The refractory serves as a heat-resistant barrier, keeping the fire inside the combustion chamber from burning through the boiler.

The two smaller boilers can heat the high school during mild weather. Still, Joe Janusheske, Director of Building Maintenance, said those units begin reaching their limits when the outside temperature falls to about 25 or 30 degrees. Without the large boiler, the district may have to stagger heating demands in different parts of the building until a replacement arrives.

Planning for a new boiler plant began before the damage was found. A commercial boiler commonly lasts 30 to 40 years. Tomah's has operated for about 60 years. Repairing it would cost an estimated $32,125 to $33,000, but no one could say how long the repair would extend its life.

"It's 60 years old," Janusheske told the board. "I can't tell you that it's going to last more than three days."

The plan calls for installing one new 6-million-BTU unit alongside the two smaller boilers. It has an estimated eight-week lead time and could be running by early to mid-December.

Until then, the smaller boilers will heat the school. Janusheske said they should be adequate unless Tomah experiences an extended stretch below about 20 degrees.

"We need to fix that boiler because we don't want our kids to freeze, and it's the right thing to do," said board member Susan Bloom.

If delivery is delayed, the board's conditional authorization allows the district to repair the old boiler without waiting for another meeting.

The long-range engineering proposal calls for three new 6-million-BTU boilers, providing greater efficiency and backup capacity. Completing the full plant is estimated at roughly $1.4 million, although administrators cautioned that figure is preliminary and not a bid. The other two boilers could be replaced next summer.

The board also authorized seeking bids to replace 27 aging rooftop air conditioners at LaGrange Elementary School with three larger commercial systems. The board will consider further options when bids are returned.

Referendum

The meeting closed with an early discussion of a possible April operational referendum. The district's current authorization, providing $2.5 million annually, expires after this school year.

"This is not a formal vote. It's giving me a directive for our staff to get more information to bring back to you," said Superintendent Dr. Frank Redmon. "You can say, 'Give us three scenarios. Give us the $2 million, $3 million, and $5 million scenarios.' We can come up with that as well."

Some board members favored a cautious approach. They noted that operational referendums have struggled in neighboring districts and suggested asking for only another $1 million or $2 million beyond the existing $2.5 million.

Others believed the district should study a larger increase of up to $5 million. They argued that Tomah has numerous aging buildings, major heating and cooling needs, roof work, and accessibility concerns. Asking for too little could leave the district unable to keep up.

"If you are going to go out for more money than the $2.5 million just to keep the doors open, I would like to know exactly what you want to spend it on," Devine said. "I want it itemized, priority-wise."

Board members asked administrators to model four possible increases beyond the existing $2.5 million authorization: $1 million, $2 million, $3 million, and $5 million. Each scenario is expected to show the estimated tax effect and the projects the district could complete.

"I would personally say, please bring us a $5 million, $3 million, $2 million, and $1 million scenario," board member Heidi Hammes said. "The $5 million is going to give you the scope of what truly needs to be done across the entire district, not just the high school."

"Bring us some feasible plans for those amounts — what we could accomplish with each dollar amount — and then we can look at it," said Devine.

Officials estimated each additional $1 million would initially add about 35 cents per $1,000 of property value to the tax rate, assuming other factors remain steady. A formal referendum resolution could come before the board in November or December.